Three people suffer radiation burns after a fire-spewing UFO hovers near their car. ![]() Betty Cash encountered a UFO ![]() Betty was treated for radiation CASE DETAILS ![]() John Schuessler investigated the scene On December 29, 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum, and Vickie’s 7-year-old grandson, Colby, were returning home after dinner on State Road 1485, near Dayton, Texas, on the outskirts of Houston. At around 9 P.M., according to Vickie Landrum, they noticed a bright light in the sky:
Betty Cash described what happened next:
Vickie Landrum said that just moments later, a large squadron of helicopters descended on the area:
![]() The craft had left its mark For years Betty, Vickie, and Colby have battled with the government, trying to get clear answers about what actually took place that night. They’ve also fought against mysterious illnesses whose symptoms appeared just hours after the encounter. According to Vickie Landrum, later that night, at around 1 A.M., Colby woke up crying:
The next morning, Vickie and Colby were still suffering from nausea and what appeared to be severe cases of sunburn. Betty was in even worse shape. Her temperature was dangerously high and large red welts had appeared on her face and hands. Over the next four days, Betty’s condition grew more serious. Vickie finally convinced her to see a doctor in Houston. He immediately admitted Betty to the hospital. Three weeks later, she underwent treatment for acute radiation poisoning. Betty was in the hospital six weeks. She lost more than fifty percent of her hair and patches of skin on her face. She was treated by Dr. Brian McClelland:
After her release from the hospital, Betty asked for help from UFO investigator John Schuessler, a former NASA project manager:
![]() Was the military involved with the UFO? John Schuessler also questioned everyone living within a 5-mile radius of the area:
One eyewitness was police officer L.L. Walker, who was in the area on the night that Betty and Vickie encountered the object:
Convinced that the military was somehow involved, Betty and Vickie appealed to their senators. The Air Force agreed to a meeting at Bergstrom Air Force Base. As they entered the room, Vickie noticed a large map. The exact spot where the encounter had occurred was clearly marked. According to Betty and Vickie, they were questioned for more than two hours. The interview was recorded by a military stenographer. In the end, the two men denied that any military or government operation had been conducted at that time and place. The women were told they were entitled to file a claim and the Air Force would review the case. Four weeks later, Betty and Vickie’s claims for medical damages were denied. What did Betty Cash, and Vickie, and Colby Landrum see in the Texas sky on that winter night in 1980? John Schuessler offered two explanations:
Vickie Landrum:
Betty, Vickie, and Colby continue to battle illnesses that doctors say could be the result of massive radiation exposure. Betty has been diagnosed with several types of cancer. She, Vickie, and Colby all have white blood cell counts that are far below normal. Their immune systems now have difficulty fighting off even minor infections. Dr. Brian McClelland:
Betty Cash said that all she wants is information that could help her medically:
After the UFO incident, Betty Cash was hospitalized for cancer treatments at least once every year. She died 18 years later at the age of 69. The Air Force declined to be interviewed for this story. Their official position is that no military or government operation occurred. Watch this case now on Amazon Prime in season three with Robert Stack and in season four with Dennis Farina. Also available on YouTube with Dennis Farina. Various seasons available now on Hulu. |
Trever
Read an article about this so take it for what it’s worth. Someone said the craft was not ours and the government tried to reverse engineer it using nuclear power and issues arose. I think they said a man was inside trying to control it. They sent all the planes in to help guide him.
Zee
Another case that happened 14 yrs in a different part of Texas is the case from Project Blue Book Case #10270. It was an exotic craft blocking the road. It has no visible means of propulsion but was believed to be man made because the individual seen outside the craft inspecting it.
One thing to not is that this craft was some type of antigravitic vehicle that had no engines, flight surfaces etc. If it was man made then its alof safer than the Cash Landrum craft
Harold
what? man made is not safer. it’s the other way around, friend.
Zee
Not sure what your comment means. What i was saying was the craft from the case i mentioned above was anti-gravitic with no flight control surfaces. It also seemed a bit safer in operations The Cash Landrum craft seems to be an early NEPA prototype that went haywire.
Patrick
Fascinating case. Sure seems like we reverse engineered a craft and it didn’t go well. Appears the military had to help guide this thing that went off the rails.
GDB
Yeah, it was definitely a corrupt demonikkk government project. Wish I could’ve been there. I live in Huffman now, couple miles from where it happened. George Foreman lives here also, right down the street from where this occured. Ironically, the older lady died on Dec 29th, 1998…the exact day it happened. Weird!
Allison
I saw a “magazine” today more on of those collector guides sold by the magazines call “Mysteries of the Paranormal” and in it was a one page story about this case with comments from Chase and he said that that the government would come every few years to test their radiation levels and they would leave with kind of threat
Paul Rothchild
If we knew what the governments of the world was hiding from us I think we would all be shocked! I knew a couple individuals who are honest people who do not tell tall tales, they swear to have seen large metal UFO’S, I believe them! There are too many credible folks ranging from airline pilots to Phillip Corso to Jim Penniston and a slew of other top military brass for incidences like this not to be true. If I remember correctly the lead investigator of Project Blue Book J. Allen Hynek went from a skeptic to believer, this says volumes. It is time the truth is told…enough of the lying!
Mary s smith
We saw one in Atascocita one year It was very scary then and all of a sudden it shot up in the air
Rj
Larry is right, this happened in Huffman near the old club Rain-out-Hang-out
GDB
Yep, my brother’s band, Movin’ On Band, played at Rain Out Hang Out many times. I moved to Huffman in 2003, still live here. It happened down the street from George Foreman’s house. On fm2100, between Inland and Kingwood streets.
debra price
i saw the show that mike farrell did and i also saw the unsolved mysteries epesode
Jordan Z
My father, his first wife, and my grandmother were witnesses questioned by local news and the Air Force this night. I was raised in Liberty my entire life and was told by my father of this story many times. He is not a believer in anything but this night changed it all!!
Kelli Barron
That also happened to be on my dad’s 33 birthday.
Kyra
I was watching Paranormal Declassified S1 E3 today on travel channel and a retired Air Force intelligence agent (Richard Doty) made reference to this case stating that it was the Air Force that was flying the craft using “reverse alien technology”. They allowed Vickie Landrum and her family to believe it was “aliens” because they did not want the truth to be known, According to the retired Air Force disinformation intelligence officer. Kind of interesting that it was brought up in another case but it made sense. The air force would not be held responsible for this family’s medical problems if disinformation and outlandish stories are circulating. It’s a shame because they deserve to know the truth, especially if they are negligent.
Ve
Christmas day we had an encounter! My husband and I and my 2 kids seen what seem like a UFO right next to us going 70-75 mph ! I started recording alot of crazy stuff was in the sky ! There was bright lights and one of them came down ! I was so excited that I had gotten alot of things on video ! There is this street before getting to 1314 that is just big pine trees ! We seen one of the lights come down, I thought I was gonna see what it was since it was so bright ! But when we got to where it was coming down there was nothing there ! I was looking at the videos excitingly telling my husband I got some good ones ! When all of a sudden I felt like something was looking at me ! I looked to the right of me and the was a huge thing about 5 feet from us car level to us ! It was led color with 2 bright lights on each side ! I completely froze! My husband was like why did u get so quite and I was like omg look at whats next to us ! I was terrified because it felt like it was looking at us but obviously there was no eyes! So hard to explain! It also felt like time slowed down and we were going slow motion! I tried my best to keep it together to not scare my kids ! (Which also seen it) when we finally got to the traffic light to turn on 1314 ! This thing stopped went behind our car and shot straight back up in matter of seconds! And when we where turning into the street we were going to it was right above where we were going like it knew exactly where we were going ! Till this day im in shook can’t believe what happened! If anyone else seen any Christmas day in the Crosby/Dayton area please email me! I have alot of video evidence. Unfortunately when it was next to us I completely frozen n didn’t record that ! My husband is really good with measurements and said this thing was between 8-10 feet wide and 4-5 height! Im still trying to process what happened to us !
Kevin
I went high school with Coby and he still had red rash on his face and got sick easy even in High school. He told me his Grandma had cancer and Radiation poisoning. They never got an answer from what happened that night. I haven seen him since High School when he was dating Heather.
I still live close to Dayton and have seen many UFO’s and Military Helicopters flying over my property to this day. There is definitely a lot of strange things in this area. The stories of the goat man along the Trinity River, strange objects flying following my wife and children. I have always keep an open mind because of this story and my own.
Daniel Miller
These two women Betty and Vicky and also the grandson Kobe in my opinion everybody that comments on here should write a letter to the President of the United States and ask him to compensate their families and give an explanation to Kobe even if he hast to keep it private somethings should be done I’m gonna write Donald Trump about it and the governor of Texas
JV
I remember when this happened. That night my mother came home and was carrying on about some very strange bright lights over the lake that she had watched move very quickly. Not like any aircraft she had ever seen. My mother was not one to imagine weird stuff or believe in extraterrestrials. In fact, she was so shaken that it had me a little scared. We went out searching for these aircraft but never saw anything further. It wasn’t until sometime later that we learned of the other incident and figured out that it was the same night.
Bill
I have never heard of this incident until today. It caught my attention because I had an experience with an unknown craft about 15 miles east of Dayton, Tx. (Hwy 73) in January 1977. Was going back to school (college) in my senior year after Christmas break about 4:30 in the morning.
There were no helicopters or flames coming out of the craft, but I can assure you it was not man-made. I first saw it as a soft glow on the road a couple miles ahead. When about 1/2 mile from it, in less than a blink of an eye, it appeared 300-400’ above the road. It did not accelerate but simply disappeared from the ground position and instantly reappeared ~300’ above the road.
It started moving towards me and I had pulled over & gotten out of my car to see it directly without going through any glass. It stayed at about 300’ above the ground and passed by me about 100 yards to the north WITHOUT making ANY SOUND.
I have only told 4-5 people in my life and have been tempted to undergo hypnosis to see if there is anything else I do not recall.
Larry
This happened in Huffman not Dayton. About a mile from my house. When I was a kid a our bus route went right over the mark in the road, which was faded by the 90’s but still visible. They’d repave the patch of asphalt several times in attempt to cover it, which it eventually did. The funny thing is, after they’d repave it a few days later it’s like the stain of the markings would start to permeate through the asphalt. I’ve lived in this town for 30 years and I’ve had two UFO sightings one was very similar to the Cash Landrum sighting. The other was a ball of light, slightly larger than a basketball. Many people in town have seen both types of UFOs, and my neighbor from across the street filmed one that you can see on YouTube if you search Huffman UFO.
Sarah
Larry can you email me, would love to discuss this as we are making a film act this incident.
Sarah
GDB
Larry, you’re right. It happened on FM 2100, between Inland & Kingwood streets, near George Foreman’s house in The Commons subdivision. I live in Huffman now, since 2003, and my wife and I occasionally hear military choppers flying near our house which is near the Dairy Queen. I was told this area is a military flight path that is north/south…stretches from Huffman, west to Dayton. Makes since to me, the 1980 incident is true, it was a government project. Not sure if that craft was experiencing problems or the little guy (human) inside wanted to practice landing the damn thing…but he definitely got away from all the trees and hovered above FM 2100, thinking he would burn the trees and start a huge fire. Wish I could’ve been there…I would’ve thrown a rock at that confounded craft! lol
Kevin Marsh
I never looked into this case heavily, but according to leading UFO authority Dr. Steven Greer, information from an USAF intelligence officer says that this event was the result of a captured alien vehicle the military was flying which was powered by a man made nuclear power plant because we did not know how the alien power source worked. The craft had a leak or core breach which gave the victims radiation sickness. See information from Dr. Greer here at just after 14 minutes into it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3r3N5_-af4
Bill Blaski
What caused the radiation?
Anonymous
Just a possibility, could have been an experimental nuclear powered soviet craft violating U.S. airspace with the U.S. helicopters after it quietly (capture).
Anonymous
A military pilot did mention to cash that he was involved in a “military exercise” that night but when she tried to further question him he changed his story
Tasha
My self and parents seen the same thing on highway 36 which is a very isolated Road near platina California… I know aliens are real…
Kelli Barron
I was only two months old at the time.
Ricky
I was 11 years old when this happened i used to ride the school bus with colby and his sister. Betty cash use to own a small pet store in dayton.the day after this happened 2 of the helicopters landed where the post office is now
Sarah
Ricky can we speak with you, we are making a show on this case and would love your insight, Sarah@ineentertainment.com
Miguel
Sarah,
I am a Dallas based actor. I have 7 feature films and 24 short films to my credit. I would love to offer my acting skills to your film project. Email is migsnsx@gmail.com. I would love to speak more about your project
.
Ray
My mother and her father had the exact same experience on September 11th, 1980 or 1981 in a suburb of Anderson, South Carolina. Many in the town saw it and it made news. No one knows what it was
Robert
Vickie Landrum died on September 12, 2007 seven days before her 84th Birthday
patrick lyle mccauley-curtin
woah i would never wanna be burnt like that